Bg – The Menorah 8: 1-4

The Menorah
8: 1-4

The Menorah DIG: What is the difference between a Hannukah and a Menorah? Why are these verses placed here? Where was the Menorah located? What was its practical significance? Of what did the Menorah remind the priests? What does the oil for the Menorah represent? Where is the Menorah seen in the B’rit Chadashah?

REFLECT: How can we be like a Menorah in a dark world today? What are the challenges of doing this, and how can the Ruach help us overcome them? What are the dangers of becoming isolated from the real world in which we live? How can we keep a balance between separation and involvement in the world? How are we lamps of the Menorah?

Parashah 36: B’Ha’alot’kha (When you set up) 8:1 to 12:16
(See my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

The Key People are Moshe, Aaron and sons, Levites, tribes and leaders, Jethro, the rabble, 70 elders, Eldad, Medad, Joshua, Miriam, and Moshe’s Cushite/Ethiopian wife.

The Scenes include the wilderness of Sinai and Paran, Taberah, Kibroth Hattaavah “graves of craving” and Hazerot.

The Main Events include guide for lighting lamps and observing Passover, the cloud/pillar to guide their journey, trumpet signals, the first move after two plus years, Arise, ADONAI, complaints about manna, 70 elders to help Moshe; quail and plague; Miryam and Aaron speaking against Moses, ADONAI confirming Moshe’s authority, Miryan being cast out of the camp for 7 days, and the camp moving along.

The Menorah also represents the nation of Isra’el, for she was called to be a light to the nations.

Throughout these early chapters of Numbers there is a topical presentation rather than a chronological arrangement of the material. They have been telling us the story of the Israelite’s preparations to leave Mount Sinai. In the first four chapters of Numbers, they took a census (to see link click An – The Levitical Census) and assigned the Levites to their various tasks (see Ar – The Four Camps of Levites). Numbers 7-10 is a flashback and relates how Isra’el was ready to depart from Mount Sinai.

When you entered the courtyard of the Tabernacle, the first thing you encountered was the bronze altar (see the commentary on Exodus Fa – Build Altar of Acacia Wood Overlaid with Bronze), which represents our salvation. There I see Yeshua. Without His sacrifice, no one can approach the presence of God in the Most Holy Place. Next, we come to the bronze basin, which represents our sanctification. There, we are cleansed with the washing of water by the Word (Ephesians 5:26). There, things in our minds, things that deal with conduct, things that have to do with character and attitude, are all cleansed by the Word. Then, we can enter the Holy Place, where the light of the Menorah lightens the rest of our path.123

Like the bronze altar, the Menorah had to be tended by priests twice daily (Exodus 29:38-42 and 30:7-8); and on both sacred objects, fire had to be kept burning continually (Leviticus 6:2 and 24:2-4). In the passages dealing with the construction of the holy things of the Tabernacle, the Menorah is mentioned most often: instructions for its construction (Exodus 25:31-40); instructions for its lighting (Exodus 27:20-21, 30:7-8, 40:4: Leviticus 24:1-3); the execution of the construction (Exodus 37:17-24); and here, instructions on how to mount the lamps and the execution of these instructions (Numbers 8:1-3). It must be remembered that the lamps were detachable pieces (4:9) that were cleaned in the morning (Exodus 30:7) and lit in the evening (Exodus 30:8). This passage now adds that the lamps must be affixed so that they will cast their light forward. Since the Menorah is located against the southern wall of the Sanctuary (Exodus 26:35), the lamps should cast their light northward for the maximum illumination of the Altar of Incense and the bread of the Presence, which stand in the center and along the northern wall, respectively.

The question as to why these verses are placed here, at the head of Chapter 8, may be resolved by the previous verse (see Bf – The Voice of God). Only when ADONAI began to speak to Moses from the Most Holy Place, after the construction of the Tabernacle, did Moshe receive the final instructions concerning the operation of the Menorah.¹²⁴

Lighting the Menorah: The golden Menorah was shaped after the pattern of an almond tree shown to Moses on the mountain. It took the form of a seven-branched flowering tree. It was lit with oil, which is a symbol of the Spirit of God (Leviticus 2:1-2; Luke 4:18). God said to Moshe, “Tell Aaron, ‘When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to cast their light forward, in front of the Menorah’ (8:1-2).” Aaron did this: he lit its lamps so as to give light in front of the Menorah, as ADONAI had ordered Moshe (8:3). Without the light of the Menorah, the priests could not minister at all, for it was the only source of light in the Holy Place. Here is how the Menorah was made: it was hammered, or shaped, from one single piece of gold, from its shaft to its flowers (Exodus 25:33), hammered work, following the pattern ADONAI had shown Moshe. This is how he made the Menorah (8:4).

That tree of light recalls the tree of life of Genesis 2:10 and 3:22-24, crafted with seven tiers, symbolic of God’s perfect presence and life illuminating His Sanctuary and, through Moses, His people. The Menorah also represents the nation of Isra’el for she was called to be a light to the nations (Isaiah 42:6). The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that the earthly Tabernacle was but a shadowy imitation of the heavenly Sanctuary, an illustration for the present time (Hebrews 9:9). But the fullness of light dawned when Messiah appeared as High Priest of the good things that are happening already, then, through the greater and more perfect Tent which is not man-made (that is, it is not of this created world), He entered the Most Holy Place once and for all. And he entered not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus setting people free forever (Hebrews 9:11-12).¹²⁵

Reflection of the seven lamps: The Tabernacle below (on Earth) is a reflection of the Tabernacle above (in Heaven) (Revelation 4:5). The seven lamps of the Menorah correspond to the divine number seven, but why is the number seven a universal divine number (see the commentary on Genesis Ae – The Number Seven)? In the book of Revelation, the correspondence between the seven lights of the Menorah and the seven stars is made clear. Yeshua is seen standing among the seven lamps, holding His right hand seven stars (see the commentary on Revelation Al – I Turned Around and Saw Someone like a Son of Man). He is titled: The One who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands (Revelation 2:1c). The imagery of the Menorah and the stars is explained in mysterious language: The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches (see the commentary on Revelation Am – I Hold the Keys of Death and Hades).

Later in the vision, John again sees a blazing Menorah before the throne of God which he identifies as the seven Spirits of God (Revelation 4:5). Again, Messiah is titled: The One who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden Menorahs (Revelation 3:1). And when Messiah is seen as the atoning Lamb which was slain, John describes Him with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God (see the commentary on Revelation Cf – You Are Worthy to Take the Scroll).¹²⁶

Hannukah: The Menorah became an important symbol in the celebration of Hannukah, alternately called the Festival of Dedication or the Festival of Lights, and typically celebrated in early or mid-December. This festival recalls the purification and dedication of the Jewish Temple after being desecrated by pagans and then recaptured by the Jewish Maccabees, as recounted in the apocryphal book of Second Maccabees. The book of Revelation, with its vision of the heavenly Temple and the cosmic struggles between believers and the enemies of God (see Revelation Dx – The Seventh Trumpet: God’s Temple in Heaven was Opened), continues the tradition of the Menorah and the tree branches in the B’rit Chadashah.¹²⁷

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your costly love and great sacrifice to be the Light of the World! During the days of the Tabernacle, ADONAI spoke to Moses. Thank You so much for giving Your Living Holy Word for me to read and grow by. It is so wonderful to read each story and see your awesome characteristics moving behind the scenes. It is so important to make time in this busy world to read and meditate on Your Word. Thank You so much for the joy that we don’t have to wait for you to speak to the High Priest from the Holy of Holies, but You now speak daily to each of me as I read Your Holy Word. We love to obey and honor You! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen